Hmnn. Not quite squaring up here with reality. So really the unemployement number is a fairly meaningless number when it comes out tomorrow. Food is the most basic of necessities, next to water.
So even if you have a job, signficant numbers are still needing food stamps. That bodes well for buying more big ticket items, and cars, and homes doesn't it ?
But its still just a recession and about to be declared "over" any month now. According to the "experts."
US food stamp list tops 34 million for first time
08.06.09, 11:26 AM EDT
FOODSTAMPS/USA:US food stamp list tops 34 million for first time
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the first time, more than 34 million Americans received food stamps, which help poor people buy groceries, government figures said on Thursday, a sign of the longest and one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression
Enrollment surged by 2 percent to reach a record 34.4 million people, or one in nine Americans, in May, the latest month for which figures are available.
It was the sixth month in a row that enrollment set a record. Every state recorded a gain in participation from April. Florida had the largest increase at 4.2 percent.
Food stamp enrollment is highest during times of economic stress. The U.S. unemployment rate of 9.5 percent is the highest in 26 years.
Average benefit was $133.65 in May per person. The economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year included a temporary increase in food stamp benefits of $80 a month for a family of four.
